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A number of experts and equality groups have accused the government of failing to protect high-risk ethnic minority groups during the Covid-19 pandemic while rates of vaccine hesitancy continue to grow among parts of these communities.The latest figure for hesitancy among Black or Black British adults is 21 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics — an increase on previous figures — while among white adults it remains at four per cent. Hesitancy is also higher for adults identifying as Muslim (14 per cent) or “other” (14 per cent) for their religion, compared with adults who identify as Christian (4 per cent).Mistrust in Government and healthcare systems have been cited as key reasons for hesitancy while a recent study by University College London University College London suggested the importance of addressing racial discrimination more broadly in order to increase vaccine uptake amongst ethnic minority adults. Currently, people from these communities account for the highest proportion of intensive care patients since pandemic began, according to the latest data from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, while Covid safety measures were scrapped by the Government last month.Dr Zubaida Haque, a member of Independent SAGE, told The Independent that ministers have done little to mitigate the risks facing many despite extensive research highlighting the problems.“It’s almost a quadruple whammy – minority ethnic communities are more overexposed because of their circumstances, less protected in that they’re less likely to take up the vaccine because their fears and concerns are not being robustly addressed, then we’ve got higher infection rates and few mitigations,” she said. More

The Home Office has refused to disclose the legal basis on which it plans to use “pushbacks” in the English Channel to turn small boats around.It emerged last week that home secretary Priti Patel had ordered officials to rewrite the UK’s interpretation of maritime laws to allow Border Force to carry out the controversial practice, with members being given special training to turn around small boats.The plans were met with criticism from lawyers, cross-party MPs and charities, who warned that the policy would likely be unworkable and questioning the legal basis on which the practice could be carried out.The French interior minister said his country would not cooperate with the plan, saying it would “not accept any practices that are contrary to maritime law”.During a parliamentary evidence session on Wednesday, permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft confirmed that Border Force officers had been “preparing and trialling” the “new maritime tactic”, but that it had “not been deployed yet”.When asked by Conservative MP Tim Loughton whether the policy was legal, Mr Rycroft replied that there was a legal basis for it to be used “in certain circumstances”.Asked what this legal basis was, Mr Rycroft said that it was the advice from law officers to the government which he “must not disclose”.Pressed by Mr Loughton to refer to the international maritime legal basis on which they think it would be legal for the Home Office to use pushbacks, Mr Rycroft said: “There is a legal basis to operate this policy in certain circumstances. The legality depends on the circumstances.”Second permanent secondary secretary Patricia Hayes, who was also being questioned, said the Home Office did not want to provide detail on operations publicly so as not to give people smugglers arranging the boat crossings an advantage on tactics.In response, Mr Loughton said: “If you bring this into operation and a boat sinks as a result, you’ll be in front of this committee and various other committees having to explain exactly that.”Mr Rycroft also confirmed that the practice would only lead to a “small proportion” of small boats being turned back to France, later conceding it would be closer to 1 per cent than 49 per cent.Responding to the committee hearing, Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said Mr Rycroft’s answers “gave the impression that the government announced the pushback policy for its publicity value rather than to do anything useful to address the needs of those making these perilous crossings”.“Home Office officials have been put in the hopeless position of having to defend a ministerial policy which is life-threateningly dangerous and almost certainly unlawful,” he added.It comes after the Home Office’s assessment of proposed immigration and asylum reforms found there was “limited” evidence this would reduce the number of people trying to cross the Channel.The equality impact assessment for the Nationality and Borders Bill, published last week, states: “Deploying these measures does advance the legitimate aim of encouraging asylum seekers to claim in the first safe country they reach and not undertaking dangerous journeys facilitated by smugglers to get to the UK, though evidence supporting the effectiveness of this approach is limited.”The document also repeatedly states that any discrimination would be “objectively justified” as a “proportionate means” of achieving the policy objectives of the plans, namely to “deter illegal entry into the UK”. More

The UK is considering joining a trade partnership between the US, Canada and Mexico or an Asia-Pacific free trade group after Boris Johnson gave up on his dream of a bilateral deal with Washington. The prime minister accepted a direct free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK was not high on US president Joe Biden’s list of priorities after meeting with his American counterpart in the White House on Tuesday.The UK will instead look to improve trade links with the US by exploring other avenues such as inserting itself as the fourth member of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) or joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Independent understands.We’ve taken a look at the two trade pacts and what they could mean for the UK.The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a major free trade area including Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore.The CPTPP was born out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a group promoted by then-US president Barack Obama as part of Washington’s increased emphasis on relations with Asia.Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, pulled out in 2017 and Biden has not rejoined the group.The UK revealed it was formally applying in January 2021 and negotiations began in June.The CPTPP, which took effect in 2018, includes agreements on market access, movement of labour and government procurement.The Department for International Trade said joining the trade group would cut tariffs on food, drink and cars and improve access to the markets of its members, such as Mexico, New Zealand and Vietnam.Other benefits are said to include easier travel between partnership countries and cheaper visas.If accepted, the UK would become the first European member, joining Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.China has also applied in an effort to increase its influence over international policies, while Taiwan is hoping to join.If China joined, it would quadruple the total population within the group to some 2 billion people.Britain may also bid to join the trade partnership between the US, Canada and Mexico as a fourth member in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).USMCA came into effect in July 2020 as a replacement for the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which was torn up by Donald Trump.Covering areas ranging from motor vehicles and steel to agricultural produce and data transfers, Washington said the deal should boost US GDP by $68bn and generate 176,000 jobs.Britain already has trade agreements with Canada and Mexico. therefore the main benefits of joining would be linked to the US element of the deal.There has previously been no talk of extending the three-nation arrangement beyond the continent. More

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has ordered an investigation into a data breach involving dozens of Afghan interpreters who worked for British forces.More than 250 former workers seeking evacuation to the UK were mistakenly copied into an email from the Ministry of Defence asking for an update on their situation, the BBC reported.John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, said: “We told these Afghans interpreters we would keep them safe, instead this breach has needlessly put lives at risk.“This is the second major data breach from the MoD this year, after sensitive documents were discovered at a bus stop in Kent in June. Clearly, the defence secretary needs to get his house in order.”A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “An investigation has been launched into a data breach of information from the Afghan Relocations Assistance Policy team.“We apologise to everyone impacted by this breach and are working hard to ensure it does not happen again.“The Ministry of Defence takes its information and data handling responsibilities very seriously.”One of the affected interpreters told the BBC that some others failed to spot the mistake and replied to the entire list with further personal details. The email was sent by the team in charge of the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which has been dealing with claims of refuge since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August.Conservative MP Johnny Mercer said the treatment of Afghan interpreters had been “deeply shameful”.“In July, myself along with many others in defence asked the Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary to sort out the Arap programme,” he said.“They wrote a churlish letter back saying we were reacting to ‘significant misreporting’ and our concerns were ‘simply not true’.“I told them they would regret their childish approach to a genuine effort to protect those who had served in harms way on behalf of our nation.“Their hubris will cost lives; this latest episode will only accelerate that. Deeply shameful.” More

People on the poverty line will be forced to choose between heating and eating this winter because of a triple whammy in the cost of living, the government is being warned.Experts say that rising energy bills combined with the end of both furlough and the universal credit top-up risk creating a living standards crisis this autumn.Annual gas and electricity bills are expected to soar by up to £280 after wholesale energy prices shot up. The hike led suppliers to withdraw their lowest fixed-rate offers on Thursday.In addition, the government price cap on annual energy costs for households is due to rise next month, leaving the average dual-fuel deal at £1,277 a year. But comparison site The Energy Shop expects this to go up to £1,557.At the same time, the furlough scheme, which was established as a way to prevent employers having to lay off workers, winds down at the end of this month.And the £20-a-week universal credit uplift, brought in to help those receiving the benefit cope with the pandemic lockdown, is ending in early October.National insurance is also going up by 1.25 percentage points in April.Figures show that 1.6 million people were on furlough at the end of July, and chancellor Rishi Sunak has been warned that ending the universal credit uplift will result in the biggest ever overnight benefit cut, affecting millions of families.Ministers argue, however, that they have spent £400bn protecting jobs and livelihoods and supporting businesses and public services during the pandemic. The cost of gas is rising sharply due to higher demand brought about by the economic recovery after the pandemic. And a blaze in Kent, which this week knocked out a major cable bringing in electricity from France, is expected to affect supplies until March next year.Wes Streeting, the shadow child poverty secretary, said: “My gas and electricity bill is going up by an estimated £161.67 next year. I’ll manage – but what about working families who, under the Tories, will be clobbered by a £20-a-week cut to universal credit and a 10 per cent rise in national insurance?”Iain Porter, of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Families on low incomes are increasingly anxious about how they are supposed to make ends meet. The prime minister says he wants to unite and level up the country, but he cannot achieve this by cutting the incomes of around 5.5 million families in and out of work. “It’s not too late for him to heed all of the warnings and abandon this cut, or he will risk creating a living standards crisis this autumn.”Morgan Wild, head of policy for Citizens Advice, said: “Millions of people who are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic now face a barrage of fresh challenges. The cut to universal credit, end of furlough, and hike in energy prices will squeeze family finances to the limit.“Keeping the £20-a-week increase to universal credit is the single best way of supporting families through what will be an incredibly hard winter.”Garry Lemon, director of policy at the Trussell Trust, said: “We know many people in need of emergency food are also living in fuel crisis, and are already caught in impossible situations where their only option is to either feed their children or heat their home.”Former Labour leader Ed Miliband said the energy hikes showed the need to use more eco-friendly and secure energy sources.“We need the government to reassure households and businesses that they are working with all relevant bodies to ensure secure, affordable energy supplies.“They also need to recognise what this shows about the problems of government policy,” he said. “The best answer to these issues is to scale up and diversify our domestic energy sector, to shore up our security of supply and protect industry, including drawing on all possible zero-carbon sources of power.“This growing crisis also reinforces the urgent need to manage demand by upgrading and insulating houses across this country.“Instead, the Conservatives sold off the Green Investment Bank, blocked onshore wind power, cut subsidies for solar, and scrapped their flagship Green Homes grant.”A government spokesperson said: “The furlough scheme and the uplift to universal credit were always temporary. They were designed to help people through the financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic, and as we look forward and get back to normal, it’s right that our economic support reflects this.“Universal credit continues to provide vital support for those both in and out of work, and we’re now focusing on our plan for jobs, getting people back into work, progressing and earning more.“The Warm Home discount scheme supports over 2 million low-income and vulnerable customers each year with their energy costs.”The government has previously said that children in households where every adult is working are five times less likely to be in poverty than those in households where nobody works, and that its jobs plan will help people to learn new skills and increase their hours or find new work. More

A range of measures could be implemented if numbers of Covid-19 cases surge this winter, Sajid Javid has said.The Health Secretary said the measures are part of a “Plan B” if attempts to control the spread of coronavirus – that include a massive booster vaccination programme – are not effective.The contingency plans will only come into force if there is “unsustainable” pressure on the NHS in England, Mr Javid said.Those measures could include public warnings that the level of risk has increased, the legal requirement to wear face masks in some settings, and advice for people to work from home if they can.The government is also considering as part of the “Plan B” measures to introduce mandatory vaccine-only Covid passes to access settings such as indoor venues with 500 or more attendees, outdoor settings with 4,000 or more people, and any settings with 10,000 or more people.The Covid passes would be proof that the bearer has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.Ministers shelved plans to introduce mandatory Covid passes by the end of September, but the possibility of them being used – along with mandatory face masks – risks a backbench revolt from Tory MPs that are opposed to the plans.Mr Javid’s statement detailing England’s autumn and winter plan came after experts set out the case for a booster vaccination programme.Third jabs will be offered to people aged 50 and over, those in care homes, and frontline health and social care workers from next week.The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be used as the booster dose for around 30 million people, with experts saying it is safe to be given alongside the usual winter flu jab and to those who have previously had AstraZeneca Covid vaccines.People will be able to get their Covid and flu vaccines on the same day, preferably with one shot in each arm.Wales has also said it will begin a rollout of booster vaccines. Updates are expected from Scotland and Northern Ireland later on Tuesday. All those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and anyone aged 16 to 65 in an at-risk group for Covid (who were included in priority groups one to nine during the initial vaccine rollout) will also be eligible for a jab.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) set out its findings, recommending that booster doses should be administered six months after the second jab.When there is more data, the JCVI also plans to look at whether boosters should also be offered to healthy people under the age of 50.Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, told a Downing Street briefing: “We know that this pandemic is still active, we are not past the pandemic, we are in an active phase still.“We know this winter could be bumpy at times and we know that winter viruses such as flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are highly likely to make their returns.” More

Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are more likely to be stopped by the police, threatened or subject to police violence and falsely accused of rule-breaking and wrong-doing during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report.Lockdown conditions and new police powers pose a threat to already over-policed communities and the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of society, says the study, A threat to public safety: policing, racism and the Covid-19 pandemic.Published by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), and authored by academics from the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) based at the University of Manchester, the report is published in the context of increased scrutiny around policing, following Black Lives Matter protests and ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstrations against the Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill.Researchers spoke to people of colour across England aged between 19 and 62 about their experiences of coronavirus policing and found evidence of police consistently failing to use PPE or observe social distancing regulations, with one pregnant woman describing an encounter where officers refused to wear masks when asked. The report’s lead author, Scarlet Harris, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a period of extraordinary police powers which arrived in a broader context of racist over-policing and police violence. This report draws on extensive conversations with people from racially-minoritised groups and communities living across England over the course of the pandemic.“The findings dismantle the myth that the police contribute to public safety. Instead, they demonstrate how policing such a ‘crisis’ has reproduced profound harms for those from racially minoritised groups and communities.”In one case, an interviewee called Darren told IRR researchers how a police stop, initially justified on the basis of wrongful suspicion of drug possession was quickly replaced – and the stop explained – with a nod to Coronavirus regulations.“I asked him [police officer] how come you’re stopping me? And then he said you smell like you was in possession of cannabis, or I have smelled a strong smell of cannabis coming from you,” Darren said.“He (then) said, well, you and your mates are breaking Covid rules, we’re in a Tier 4 lockdown and you was with them in Sainsbury’s, wasn’t you? So I said, I don’t know who they are, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, but I don’t know these people, do you know what I mean? “You’re only stopping me because I’m Black and you’re racially profiling me; and I don’t even want to play the race card, but some people would be acting a lot worse than I am right now.”Another contributor, Kieran, said: “Even though you do get stopped a lot, it’s just now they feel like, oh, we can now, because we can say it’s down to Covid, and that’s what’s really sticking like right there, it’s like, I can drive out to the shop now, you know, I could go to, for example, McDonald’s, and it’s like, why are you out of your house?”This comes as expert warn that the new policing bill, to be debated this week, risks deepening racial and gender disparities in the justice system.A previous report from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) found that young men from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds were almost twice as likely to be handed fines for breaches of Covid-19 lockdown rules than white men the same age.Findings of an inquiry by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, published last year, suggested Black people in the UK feel that their human rights aren’t protected as much as white people from policing to healthcare.Speaking about the IRR research, co-author Remi Joseph-Salisbury said: “The evidence in this report really urges us to question the state’s reliance on the police to solve social and public health problems. Despite being central to the government’s handling of the pandemic, policing too often threatens rather than protects public safety, particularly for people of colour.”The Independent has approached the National Police Chiefs Council for comment. More

The Department for Work and Pensions is unable to explain “shocking inequality” as unemployment among young Black people soared to 41.6 per cent during the pandemic, a damning new report has found. The DWP is also unable to properly assess or improve the impact of its own policies and spending, MPs have said. The unemployment rate among young Black people rose from 24.5 per cent to 41.6 per cent from October-December 2019 to the same period in 2020, while among white people it rose from 10.1 to 12.4 per cent over the same time period. Though the government increased its spending on employment support programmes, from £300m in 2020-21 to £2.5bn in 2021-22, and hired 13,500 new work coaches, the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) warned that its focus was misplaced. Ongoing problems surrounding work coaches, from understaffing and backlogs of work, and DWP’s “focus on getting people into any form of employment” undermines its “ambitions” to support disabled people to work and people on low pay to progress, the report said. The increase in unemployment as the furlough scheme winds down has “not been as sharp as feared”, but the Committee says any second surge in new benefit claims and unemployment as the scheme ends at the close of September could “disrupt DWP’s ability to provide employment support”.Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “In response to the pandemic, DWP has increased spending on employment programmes a staggering eight-fold in the space of a year. But there is a lack of curiosity about the impact of the policies it’s implementing.“When we are talking about the long-term prospects of a generation of our young people, and the extraordinary differential in job losses among young Black people this needs serious attention now or a whole generation will be scarred. This needs to be a real focus now to avoid embedding inequality of opportunity over decades.”Moreover, the PAC report found that the DWP has “relatively few” programmes aimed at people from minority ethnic communities and also uncovered shortcomings in the department’s data on diversity and disadvantage among Universal Credit claimants which, it says, poses potential issues in properly evaluating the effectiveness of its schemes for different groups.This comes after economic thinktank the Resolution Foundation warned that young Black people have been the hardest hit by the rise in unemployment during the pandemic, having borne the brunt of the job losses because they disproportionately worked in worst-hit sectors such as hospitality and leisure.Separate research from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) published in January found that Black and minority workers have been 26 times worse hit by the employment crisis sparked by Covid-19 in the last year-and-a-half.This prompted the union to urge government ministers to tackle inequalities as a matter of priority, citing racism as a key reason for this disparity in the labour market.“The time for excuses and delays is over,” TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said. “Ministers must challenge the systemic racism and inequality that holds back BME people at work.”A DWP spokesperson said: “Before the pandemic we lifted the employment rate to a record high for ethnic minorities and we are now focused on helping people from all backgrounds back into employment through our Plan for Jobs. “Our £150 million Flexible Support Fund also invests in local initiatives, benefiting communities, such as mentoring for people from ethnic minority backgrounds.“We understand disabled people may need different kinds of assistance which is why we offer specialist programmes paired with personal support and we remain committed to seeing 1 million more disabled people in work by 2027.” More